242 



Prehistoric Music. 



The wonderful part of the music is, that it is drawn from the rough 

 natural stones without any polish or cutting whatever, while all other 

 musical instruments have been shaped and polished, and are nothing 

 but industrial products, in which strength and volume must be 

 observed in order to obtain the desired effect. M. Baudre says:'* I 

 must call your attention to the fact, that iron or ingots of gold or 

 silver, as also rock crystal, in their natural states, are quite free from 

 vibrations ; flint on the contrary vibrates in its natural state, and does 

 not, like the former, require polishing and cliange of shape in order to 

 become sonorous." So we may consider it a fact, that the first musi- 

 cal note that God gave to nature was deposited in the cold lieart of 

 that stone which is also full of fire. 



You all know of the colossal statue near Thebes, called by the 

 Egyptians the Vocal Memnon, from the sounds emitted from it. I 

 remember wondering while I examined it, why stone apparently so 

 cold and silent should be called the singing statue. But now it 

 seems quite possible, and I only look forward to the discovery of some 

 papyrus that will tell the story of a colossal musical instrument. That 

 sounds were heard is confirmed by undisputed records. They were 

 listened to by Hadrian and his ill-fated queen Sabina, and a host of 

 other historical personages. Some historians also say that the rude 

 Roman soldier, unused to any other sound than that of the trumpet, 

 listened in silence to its- voice. It has been said that the sound heard 

 from the statue was due to a blow, and this was no doubt the true 

 cause. The Egyptian priests were crafty men, always working miracles, 

 and they alone were allowed to ascend the rocks, which were on one 

 side of the statue. There in the crevices, the Arabs of our own time 

 often conceal themselves, and for amusement strike a piece of granite, 

 which sends forth a sonorous and metallic sound which rings all over 

 the plain. 



To return to the stones in possession of M. Baudre, they are 

 twenty-seven in number, and are suspended from a string, which, 

 not being a good conductor of sound, allows the vibrations of the flints 

 to be produced in their purity. The stones are rough, just as they 

 were taken from the quarries, and are of dififerent sizes. M. Baudre 

 says, that there is an absence of the proportion which is indispensable 

 in instruments of music, for three stones of the same weight and 

 volume may produce very different sounds, while two stones, entirely 

 unlike in weight and volume, may correspond to the same note, which 

 is a fact that at present cannot be explained. He says also, that cut- 

 ting the stones, as a general rule, has the effect of destroying the purity 

 of the sound. So it was necessary to seek the note formed by nature, 

 without regard to the shape of the lumps. Repeated experience has 



